A year long study has found that Atkins was the most successful diet, both in terms of weight lost after a year, and health benefits.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine Prevention Research Centre took a group of 311 overweight women and assigned them to one of four different diets.

They gave them a brief counselling session and sent them off with a book about their diet (aiming for real life conditions). Each woman ate similar amounts of calories and their health was monitored during the study.

At the end of the year, they found that the women on Atkins has lost 10.4lb, almost twice as much as the 5.7lb in the LEARN group. Ornish dieters had lost 4.8lb and the Zone group had lost 3.5lb.

The Atkins group has also shown the biggest decrease in blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol and bodyfat.

Am going to start this diet tomorrow, what would I need for the first few days of it? Could anyone help me with a meal plan by any chance? I want to lose about a stone but also want to get healthy as well. Any tips?

Hi Everyone, I am new to the Atkins Diet but really feel it's the one for me.. Can anyone tell me if Orbit complete Sugar free gum is allowed in induction? I know the book says to advoid Aspartame and Orbit has that in it.. Thanks guys.

There's a bodybuilding site where they do low carb dieting, and it's very funny to hear all those big macho bodybuilders raving about how soft their skin is, and how shiny their hair, and how their spots are better.

Off the top of my head, I'd say a diet with enough good quality fats will improve skin, and cutting out the sugar will remove one of the big stressors.

Thanks Eileen, your so helpful with all your info. I saw that no iron thing on an atkins website. this is what it says: At a minimum, take a good daily multivitamin with minerals, including potassium, magnesium and calcium, but without iron.Im taking an iron supplement at the minute and didnt know if I should stop it.

No iron? That's a new one. You are not likely to be low in iron on Atkins, because you will probably be eating reasonable amounts of red meat and lots of green veg, but if you are prone to low iron, supplement as usual.

Most non-Atkins diets have iron added to foods like cereals. Special K has a huge amount of iron in it. No cereal means you are not getting added iron.

A small amount of berries is fine on induction, just don't get carried away. You can eat lots of rhubarb.

You can cook asparagus by boiling briefly in a little water, or chopping into a stirfry. I like to drizzle with olive oil and some sea salt and bake for about 10 minutes.

Starting today, just want to check something. Pretty sure I read somewhere that you shouldnt take an iron supplement on atkins. Is this true? Also are berries allowed on induction?just one more thing, how do I cook asparagus??

Atkins includes a lot of green veg, which tend to keep your bowels moving nicely. I occasionally wish to meet Gillian McKeith, just so I could poo on her head, then make her admire it.

Rhubarb is ultra low carb, and very good for bowels. Coconut oil is good too.

Oily fish is good for circulation.

Tea and coffee are fine. Not sure where the thing came from about them, but they both have loads more health benefits than drawbacks, and as long as you stick to a splash of milk, no sugar, you'll be fine.

One thing I'd suggest: ignore the target weights. The chances are that after carrying around 17 stone, you have a lot more muscle than you give yourself credit for, so 11.5 is probably too low for you. Instead, pick a dress size you can live with, and aim for that. A realistic one! I could diet until I'm in my coffin, but my child-bearing hips are never going to be size 8 or 10. Size 14 is probably a reasonable target.

I have been doing the IDP for the last 4 weeks, well I actually bought the book in February and cut out alot of carbs but didn't want to seriously start till I had a load of parties out of the way, I should mention I was a complete carbaholic and totally addicted to sugar to boot, I guess they go hand in hand really.Anyways I cut out alot of carbs and but kept milk and a few other things as I didn't want to start ketosis till I was good and ready! Actually took me awhile to get my head around not eating anything with flour etc again. I lost over 3/4 stone fairly quickly but started to put it back on again as I was being so lax.

So I decided to go for it after weaning myself slowly off the carbs and have been doing fairly strict induction for the last 4 weeks and I find it grand, I do think I started to eat too many tomatoes though and a some other more carby foods that perhaps I was having too much of so I have cut those out completely for the time being as I have a hell of a lot of weight to lose.

Deep breath....I was 17st 4lbs (with clothes on) when I got the book back in Feb and I finally got that head moment where I knew I could lose weight. I have dieted in my life and I'm a great one for sticking my head in the sand, I also used a great excuse and that was I gave up the fags nearly 3 years ago and isn't it better to be fat than smoking?

I did give pointing a bash for a week or so but it really wasn't for me, I never bought lowfat anything in my life but did eat a shedload of carbs and most of our meals were very carb orientated for eg fried rice dishes, rice, pasta or spuds with every meal or it just wouldn't have been a meal, I have found the switch pretty easy as we already loved the yummy foods, so we are actually eating alot more veg now than ever and steamed cabbage and broccolli are firm favourites now.

According to the Dukan Diet website, a natural weight for me after having 2 kids is 11.5 stone so I'm going to aim for that, I would love to hit 10 stone so we will see.

I have read the whole thread from start to finish and some great recipes here. Ye are a fountain of knowledge.

For anyone looking for a carb counter, I just found a mobile download called "HelpDiabetes". It's free to download, though you may have internet charges unless your package includes that. I managed to down load it onto my phone, which was low spec when I bought it three years ago, so you don't need a smart phone.

It has a huge list of foods and will give you the carbs and calories etc for each one, and will add them up for you.

The eating six times a day thing is what happens when people repeat things without understanding the reason why. No, it doesn't speed up metabolism.

To get technical, the thermic effect of eating (the amount of calories you use to digest your meal) is about 10% of calories consumed. So the TEE for ten meals of 200 calories each is exactly the same as the TEE of one meal of 2000 calories.

However, if you eat a diet that's very high in sugar and refined carbs, you get a huge variation in blood glucose between meals, and small frequent meals reduces this a bit. On a low carb diet like Atkins, you don't get this huge swing, so you can eat when you get hungry, rather than eating to head off a hypoglycemic haze.

Ha Ha Eileen, Im not planning to eat all of that at each meal, thats just the foods I plan to choose from for each meal just to have variety so Im not having the same thing day in day out :)I read somewhere else that I should eat 6 times a day?? I like your way of eating only when hungry better, is that ok or do you agree with the 6 times thing? To be honest I would be more of a breakfast and lunch person and then a snack later, most of the time I dont eat dinner so dont really see myself eating 6 times a day!!

Your food looks fine, but you seem to be planning to eat an awful lot at each meal! I'd aim for a small meal size, and you can keep some of the food back as a snack if you are hungry later.

Eat normal portion sizes. If you are still hungry, have a little more.

Black tea is fine. And you can eat whenever you are hungry, no matter what time. There is nothing magic about stopping eating at a certain time, it's just that most people tend to nibble in front of the tv, and usually on high calorie junk food. If you don't eat after 7pm or whatever, you can't eat all those biscuits.

Bodybuilders, who are aiming for bodyfat percentages in single digits, make a religion of eating before bed, just in case they lose muscle overnight!

Hey Girls, I plan to start this on Monday and am thinking of meals to have when I do. Am wondering if the following things are ok to eat right from the start or is there anything here that I should avoid in the induction phase?Breakfasts:Scrambeled eggs, boiled eggs with a bit of butter, rashers, mushrooms, tomatoes, berries and natural yoghurt.Lunch:Salad with lettuce, cheese, boiled egg, tomatoe, cucumber and either chicken, ham or roastbeef. Maybe tuna or salmon mixed with a bit of mayo.Dinner:Stir fry with brocolli, mushrooms, peppers, green beans and chicken or beef.Gonna try Eileens desserts and will attempt coffee with no sugar. Not giving up my tea cos I drink it black with no sugar so this is ok isnt it. Can I eat as much veg as I want or do I need to watch portion sizes? Also is there any certain time that you shouldnt eat after?

Generally, aim for between 20 and 50g of carbs a day. Start with a 20g limit, just to give you a feel for what you are eating, and how low carb works, then you can add in more foods with significant carbs.

For instance, you normally avoid milk in the first couple of weeks, but after that, you might have a regular size cappuccino, but not a large or a latte.

All the leafy green veg are fair game. Add in extra berries or higher carb veg as you go.

You're not recommended to eat cottage cheese early on, but I've never noticed anyone having a problem with it.

Atkins is a low carb diet. It does not restrict fat, which is why it was considered a fad diet for so long, but more and more studies are coming out to prove that instead of giving you a heat attack, it improves your cholesterol and other markets for heart disease.

Basic Atkins foods are eggs, fish, meat, chicken, lots and lots and lots of green vegetables, cheese, olive oil, butter, cream, nuts, seeds. As you do the diet, you can add back in more vegetables and whole fruits, but you still avoid things like fruit juice.

On Atkins, the big no-no is sugar in any form, white flour, and processed fats. You avoid sugar, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, root veg, fruit in the early stages though berries are fine, milk, juice, any sort of refined or processed foods, cereals and grains. As you go on, you can add some back in.

Typical Atkins meals are things like a mushroom omlette or scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for breakfast, fish and big green salad for lunch, steak and broccoli and green beans for dinner. Snacks could be cheese, or nuts, or sugar-free jelly.

If you are hungry, you eat. Simple as that. If you are not hungry, wait until you are. One huge advantage of low carb diets is you feel a lot less hungry than on low fat diets, so it's easier not to snack. Another is that the food itself tends to be fresh whole food, so you are getting lots of nutrition.

I'm still here even tho I haven't posted in a while. Weight is still going down although very slowly but I feel fantastic and am very happy with my progress so far.

I'm going to have a bit more time for exercise over the next couple of months so was reading up all about the couch to 5k on the other thread. Very scary since I am definately at the "couch" phase at the moment but I am going to give it a try. Hopefully I can feel even better and it might speed things up a bit with my weight loss

lidl usually have 90% dark choc, and its very cheap, hoping to start back to aitkins over the next couple of days do a aitkins shop today or tomorrow, and back on track have about 3 - 4 stone to loose, but i have lost about 1and half and kept it off, so sleeves up and back to it.

Cottage cheese does have some carbs, but the amount in Irish cottage cheese is much lower than in American. Buy some of the full fat cottage cheese from Lidl or the Polish shops, and enjoy it. Avoid all low fat cottage cheese.

Oh, the Greek style yogurt from Lidl is also suitable, though most yogurts are hit and miss.

Supermarket sausages generally have a lot of rusk etc in them, so they are too high carb. M&S do some big gourmet ones which are 1-2g of carbs per sausage, so they are fine. Also, some of the continental sausages are good, but you'll need to read the labels. Looks for less than 2g of carbs per 100g of sausage.

Sounds perfect. On Atkins, your blood sugar levels should be normal, they just don't have dramatic swings when you eat. Most people have readings of around 5-6 before meals, and up to 12 after if they've eaten a lot of carbs. Higher than that is cause for concern. Also, how long it takes to come back to normal is something that doctors look out for. On Atkins or similar low carb diet, it never goes that high, even after eating.

Low carb is a normal human way to eat, it's just unusual now that we have supermarkets open every day. Back when we were hunter/gatherers, the bulk of our food would have been whatever we could catch or pick, so mostly meat, fish, birds, eggs when we found them, whatever vegetables were around, and fruit or berries and nuts in season. Very little grains, and only a bit of honey when we were prepared to fight the bees. That's what our bodies evolved to eat. It's throwing in a lot of processed grains and refined sugar that has confused everything.

Hi everyone,Always on here but hardly ever post! Have been following this way of eating for the last year and have lost stones :) I still can't believe I'm actually on a diet!! I don't even consider it a diet as there's no deprivation for me. I've found a satisfying substitute for everything I can't but would like to have. Lately I've become hooked on the atkins products esp the choc chip crisp day break bars (2g net carb per bar) and the museli. Was thinking it might be useful for those of you who can't face protein in the morn. Anyway I'm just wondering if your blood sugar levels reading should be at a certain level (number) on this diet. Any ideas? dp has a monitor for checking blood sugar levels and mine always seems to be around 5.5

Hi girls. Doing ok here. The only thing is i bought the chilli mix seeds yesterday and ate the lot throughout the day. I didnt have a lunch though so hopefully this will equal it out. How is everyone else doing?

Yes, calories count, even on Atkins. It's just that keeping carbs low tends to reduce hunger, so you naturally reduce calories without noticing.

A quick rule of thumb for calories is to take your ideal weight in pounds, and add a zero for the number of calories you should eat. So if you want to be 170lb, then eat 1700 calories. Unfortunately, after Lipotrim, that might not work so well. Lipotrim is so low cal that your body adjusts to the lower calorie level and you might need to reduce a bit more to see results.

It would be worth opening a free account with www.fitday.com and putting in all your food, so it can add it up for you. Some things will have to be entered as custom foods, like Irish meat which is lower fat than American, but you only need to do it once.

Really need some advice, the scales are completely stuck as per usual for me at this stage of a diet.

I did my 2 weeks of lipotrim, lost a stone and have since done 3 weeks of Atkins and my weight is exactly the same! If I was trying to maintain this would be great but I have at least 2 stone to lose to get to where I was last time on lipotrim and even that is above my healthy range.

The scales move a pound or so each way but are not reliably coming down so I must be going wrong somewhere.

I'm fairly sure of my carbs so it must be calories. I know technically we are not counting calories but it has to come in somewhere doesn't it?

Positives are ; still have my stone off and got a few compliments so must be noticable. Feel in control and few if any cravings. Enjoying food and not feeling guilty

am really tinking atkins is the best - hopped on the scales this morn and am 13lb lighter... hallelujah!! (have no idea how to spell that)....i think i could happily eat omlettes for the rest of my life... made yummy soups as well at the weekend was dreading eating them cos am used to thickening them up with the usual corn flour or potatoes.. but just used less water and hey presto... was gorg! roll on bbq season - plenty of fresh salads and meat.. happy days!

Weigh in Monday so will be back to update then but thought I would post this for anyone missing a cereal / porridge breakfast or having toilet issues!

I discovered a kind of porridge by accident which I think is induction friendly (EILEEN - can you just check info below for me to see its ok?)

stew one large stick of rubharb by boiling in about a cup of water. Add a tablespoon of cream. Add about 2 tablespoons of psyllium husks (I sometimes put in more to make it thicker but don't go overboard or you end up with a playdough consistency!!). Add a dash of cold water to make it easier to stir and sweeten with splenda if you need to.

It makes something the colour and consistency of porridge, slightly milky tasting cos of the cream but with a fruity tang from the rubarb that means you don't need much splenda to sweeten it.

Really hope it's induction friendly cos it's been my lifeline in the mornings this last few days!

Interesting info about the protein powder - I must look for some cos that would be another breakfast option for me. Is protein powder and whey they same thing?

Sometimes I make them with water and ice, for a milk shake effect. In winter, I was making hot drinks out of them. The trick there is to mix it with cold liquid to start, then add the hot gradually. Don't start with hot.

I also do a thing with egg white, where I whisk about 100ml of egg white till stiff, then mix a sachet/scoop of whey with about 50ml of water/soy milk/coconut milk, then fold it into the egg white. Divide into four portions and freeze for protein ice-cream.